Tillage implements such as cultivators are getting larger and more complex over time to improve tilling efficiency and seedbed characteristics. For example, cultivators are getting wider to allow tilling more soil in a single pass, which improves equipment productivity. Shanks and other components of the cultivators are also getting larger and more robust to allow increased travel speeds while tilling, which further improves equipment productivity. Further efforts have been made to improve soil leveling and other seedbed characteristics, such as by incorporating soil finishing systems which may include multiple harrows having tines for breaking up and smoothing out the surface of the soil behind main tillage tools of the tillage implements.
For tilling operations, it is important for plant residue to be equally distributed over the surface of the field. However, with increased plant yields, there is an increased amount of plant residue that cultivators must operate in to consistently flow the residue without plugging or bunching. Plugging of residue may affect the cultivator's ability to properly flow the residue. Bunching of residue on the ground may compromise the surface of the field for planting effectively.
Consequently, it is sometimes necessary to adjust the angle at which the harrows contact the ground during a tilling session, so as to minimize plugging or bunching. Adjusting the angle at which the harrows contact, the ground may also improve the effectiveness of ground smoothing depending on the soil's looseness or firmness.
However, to adjust the angle, pins on each tine support channel of a harrow are typically removed so that they may be moved to a different angle. Then, the pins are replaced. For a typical tillage implement having two mounting arms per harrow section, and as many as 8 harrow sections, this may require the operator to remove, adjust and replace as many as 16 pins. This can be time consuming and physically strenuous. What is needed is tillage implement having harrows which eliminate one or more of the foregoing disadvantages.